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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Miles of Motivation

Numbers associated with my bicycling sometimes frustrate me - like when I realize that my average pace still hasn't gone up as much as I'd like or when I realize that the numbers related to my weight haven't gone down even though I'm biking a ton. But when I get close to reaching a mileage milestone, numbers don't frustrate me - they motivate me instead!

I really like seeing my bike computer's odometer turn over to big numbers. When I first got my road bike last April, it was a big deal to see 100 on my odometer's screen. Later that year when the odometer turned over to 500 and I realized I had biked 500 miles on my road bike it was another big deal. Whenever my computer turns over to a number with zeros after it I let out a whoop, smile and ride on - and start logging miles towards my next hundred mile milestone.

Today I woke up with the goal of kicking that road bike's odometer over the 1,000 mile mark. I knew I was close - within 40 miles of reaching the goal - so Owen and I loaded the bikes and headed for the Cannon Valley Trail with plans to ride from Cannon to Red Wing and back - a total of 40 miles - and reach my mileage goal.

We got to the trail and got ready to ride. I turned on my bike computer and discovered I only had to pedal 22 miles to reach 1,000! So I did. And when my computer clicked over from 999.9 to 1,000 I let out a whoop and I smiled. I stopped to take a picture of my odometer reading for proof - and then I pedaled back to Cannon Falls and started logging miles towards my new mileage goal of 1,100 total miles.

1,000 miles!

Then the next goal will be 1,200.

Then 1,300...and 1,400...

and...it keeps going on and on and on.

I just realized this mileage goal thing pretty much never ends as long as I keep riding my bike. But instead of frustrating me, the fact that every hundred miles I can reach a new milage goal motivates me to keep on riding.

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About Me

Myrna CG Mibus is a freelance writer based in Webster, Minnesota, a tiny town near the historic city of Northfield. A private pilot, quilter, gardener and fledgling bicyclist, Myrna specializes in writing about aviation, the arts, interesting people and her family’s flying adventures.